Noise maker toy for attachment to a shoe



1955 v. H. CHATTEN NOISE MAKER TOY FOR ATTACHMENT TO A SHOE Filed Oct.22, 1953 United States Patent 1 2,721,420 NOISE MAKER TOY FOR ATTACHMENTTO A SHOE Victor H. Chatten, Torrance, Calif. Application October 22,1953, Serial No. 387,583 3 Claims. (Cl. 46-175) This invention relatesto toys and amusement devices and is particularly directed to asound-producing bulbous device adapted to be attached to a shoe so thatwhen the wearer walks a distinctive sound is produced at each step.

An object of this invention is to provide a squawker toy which may bereadily attached and removed from a shoe near the instep thereof andwhile the shoe is on or off the wearers foot.

A more particular object is to combine a noise-emitting voice with aself-expanding rubber-like bulb and to provide novel means for mountingthis combination upon the side of a low or Oxford type shoe near theinstep so that the bulb is distorted by contact with the ground but doesnot underlie the sole of the shoe.

Other and more detailed objects and advantages will appear hereinafter.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 shows a small boy having one of the squawker toys attached toeach shoe.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of a shoe showing one of the squawker toysmounted upon it.

Figure 3 is a sectional elevation, partly broken away, takensubstantially on the lines 3-3 as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a perspective view showing construction and manner ofattachment of the mounting clip.

Referring to the drawings, the squawker toy, generally designated 10,includes a self-expanding resilient bulb 11 formed of rubber orrubber-like material. The bulb 11 has a neck portion 12 which isexpanded beyond its normal unstressed diameter to receive and grip thesound generating squawker or voice 13. The voice 13 has a hollowcylindrical shell or housing 14 provided with an internal vibratory reed15. When a current of air is caused to flow through the central opening16, the reed 15 vibrates to produce a characteristic sound or noise.

The attachment clip 17 has a projecting finger 18 provided with adog-leg bend 1.9 and has a circular anchor portion 20 provided with acentral aperture 21 encircled by a ring of axially projecting teeth 22.The anchor portion 21 is permanently affixed to the housing 14 byforcing the teeth 22 into the relatively soft material of the housing atone end thereof. The housing 14 may conveniently be formed of wood. Theaperture 21 is aligned with the central opening 16 in the housing.

The attachment clip 17 is preferably formed of resilient material suchas spring steel and the dog leg bend 19 initially contacts the outersurface of the neck 12 of the bulb 11.

To mount the squawker toy on the shoe 23, the finger 18 is inserted intothe interior of the shoe over the upper side edge so that the bulb 11contacts the floor 24 near the location of the instep of the shoe. Thebulb preferably does not underlie any part of the sole or heel of theshoe but is positioned alongside, as best shown in Figures 1 and 3. Thedevice may be installed or removed before or after the shoe is placed onthe foot of the wearer. The finger 18 projects between the wall of theshoe upper and the sock (not shown) covering the wearers foot.

The distance from the upper outer edge 25 of the shoe to the floor 24 isslightly less than the overall height of the squawker toy so that thebulb 11 is distorted somewhat by contact with the floor or groundsurface. This distortion reduces the volumetric content of the bulb andexpels air through the passage 16, causing the reed to sound. When theshoe is lifted from the floor or ground the bulb 11 returns to itsnormal unstressed shape 2,721,420 Patented Oct. 25, 1955 2 and therebysucks air back into the interior of the bulb through the passage 16. Thereed 15 can be constructed to sound when the air is expelled from thebulb, or sucked in, or both.

The overall height of the squawker toy 10 can be changed to fit variousstyles and sizes of shoes simply by changing the extent to which thecylindrical housing 14 projects into the bulb neck 12. More than onesquawker toy can be mounted on each shoe, if desired.

The outer surface of the rubber neck 12 contacts the side surface of theshoe and is held in frictional engagement therewith by means of theresilient finger 18 on the attachment clip 17 This frictional contact iseffective to prevent the squawker device from riding-up on the shoe andthereby adversely affecting the contact of the bulb 11 with the groundor floor.

Having fully described my invention, it is to be understood that I donot wish to be limited to the details herein set forth but my inventionis of the full scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a foot operated squawker toy adapted to be removably attached toan Oxford type shoe or the like, the combination of: a resilientself-expanding bulb having a ground-contacting portion and a neck, ahousing gripped within the interior of the neck and having an airpassage extending therethrough, a sound generating device within thehousing actuated by flow of air through said passage, and an attachmentclip on the upper end of the housing adapted to enter the interior of ashoe adjacent a side wall thereof and clamping the outer surface of theneck against such side wall, the overall length of the bulb and housingbeing adjustable by varying the position of the housing within the neckso that the bulb may engage the ground at one side of the shoe near theinstep.

2. in a toy of the class described, the combination of: a low shoe ofthe Oxford type having a side wall adjacent the instep, a resilientself-expanding bulb having a groundcontacting portion and a neck, ahousing gripped within the interior of the neck and having an airpassage extending therethrough, a sound generating device within thehousing actuated by flow of air through said passage, and an attachmentclip on the upper end of the housing having a finger portion extendinginto the interior of the shoe and to clamp the outer surface of saidneck against said side wall of the shoe, the overall length of the bulband housing being adjustable by varying the position of the housingwithin the neck so that the bulb may engage the ground at one side ofthe shoe near the instep.

3. In a foot operated squawker toy adapted to be removably attached toan Oxford type shoe or the like, the combination of: a hollow resilientself-expanding member, the member having a bulbous ground-contactingportion and an upwardly extending neck portion, a housing gripped withinthe interior of the neck portion and provided with an air passageextending therethrough, a sound generating device operatively associatedwith the housing and actuated by flow of air through said passage, andan attachment clip mounted on the housing and having a portion thereofadapted to enter the interior of the shoe adjacent a side wall thereofand to clamp the outer surface of said neck portion against such sidewall, said attachment clip serving to support the hollow member so thatthe bulb portion may engage the ground at a side of the shoe near theinstep.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS847,240 Chamberlain Mar. 12, 1907 953,586 Bolles Mar. 20, 1910 2,413,545Cordi Dec. 31, 1946 2,551,680 Kipling May 8, 1951 2,561,743 KusmarowisJuly 24, 1951

